That’s right folks, I can finally unlock a new level of society because I have officially seen all the Star Wars films. Well, at least all of them except the new one. But to be fair, that one wasn’t on the list because I didn’t know it was coming out. So as of now I’m counting myself among the I’ve-been-too-busy-with-the-holidays-to-see-the-new-one-yet breed, which is exactly where I want to be.

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2) See 5 WLRA’s

COMPLETED

WRLA (pronounced wool-rah) is my nickname for the World’s Largest Roadside Attractions, which I became addicted to sometime last year. It is among my life goals to see them all, and so I’m chipping them off slowly. This year I shot for five, and ended up seeing the fifth one just under the wire. My sister and I drove out to see the World’s Largest Donut on New Year’s Eve Eve. The other four I saw this year were the World’s Largest Paper Cup, Fishing Fly, Thermometer and Monk.

I did most of the prep for this project back in September, but didn’t actually sew it together until this past weekend. On one hand I could say I’m glad I was ahead of the game (at one point) because when I finally sat down to sew it together, all the pieces were already cut. But on other hand, I wish I would have just taken the time to sew it together back then, it might have been a tinge less stressful. Regardless, I’m very proud of the end result. It’s nowhere near perfect, but it’s something I actually sewed with my own two hands and, like, HOW COOL IS THAT?!

The original

Mine

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4) Run 1,000 miles

COMPLETED

It’s almost unfathomable that I can write “complete” on this goal, but it is, in fact, COMPLETE! I, Kimberlee K, ran 1000 miles in 2017. EEEK. You can read all about this ridiculously crazy feat here.

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5) Complete The Ultimate Fit Bit Week

COMPLETED

At the beginning of the year I decided to make my own Fitbit achievement known as “The Ultimate Fit Bit Week.” Essentially I wanted to see if I could meet every goal (i.e. steps taken, calories burned, active minutes, etc.) every single day for an entire week. Let me tell you, it was not easy, but it’s one of those things that I can now say that I did, which is cool. You can read about it here. Also, if you’re reading this, Fitbit, make sure you name this challenge after me if you ever make it, you know, a thing.

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6) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

COMPLETED

As I’ve said in previous check-ins, this was one of my favorite goals of the year, which made it a no brainer to add it to my list of goals for 2018. I’d highly encourage anyone and everyone to volunteer if they get a chance. It’s truly one of the most rewarding experiences!

When the year started, the NFL, NBA and NHL were all in the tail end of their regular seasons and moving into the playoffs, thus making tickets to the games way out of my price range. So, since I knew baseball would be an easy one to check off (because I’m a huge Dodger fan), and soccer season was just about to start, I decided to channel my energy into those and put the other three checkpoints on hold until the end of the year (a.k.a the beginning of a new season). In the end, while I was lucky enough to be invited to a hockey game (in a suite!! Thanks, Sam!) I never found my way to a basketball or football game this year. But don’t fret! At the end of the day, not going to a basketball or football game doesn’t make my year a “failure” or this goal a wash. And it would be a waste to get caught up in the parameters of the goal and obsess over the failures rather than celebrate the successes. For among the casual weeknight Dodger games I got to attend this year, I also got to see Game 6 of the World Series, and got my family out to see an LA Galaxy soccer game, which we probably never would have done otherwise. When I think about it like that, I’d say it’s a pretty successful goal.

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8) Try every class at the gym

VETOED

The lack of progress on this one began with a lack of facilities, due to water damage at my local gym. It was back up and running in April, but then April turned into May and then June and then July, leading me to believe that procrastination had taken over. While that was definitely part of it, the truth was, I was scared. By July I had hit the 500-mile mark of my running goal, making the finish line something I could actually picture, and I was scared to do anything that might prevent me from reaching it. So around October, I more or less forfeited—or rather vetoed—this goal for 2017 and decided to add it as a bonus goal for this coming year. I still want to get a taste of what my gym membership is getting me and I figure it will be a good way to stay in shape.

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

COMPLETED

You remember this iconic scene from classic RomCom The Princess Diaries, right?

I mean I think it’s safe to say we were all jealous of that mother/daughter arts and crafts session. Lucky for me, I have an amazing group of friends and family that dove headfirst into this project for my 27th birthday.

Also, I recently got a chance to hang the end results up on my wall and it makes me smile every time I pass by.

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

COMPLETED

This was another goal that I was super excited about and it did not disappoint. I’ve always wanted to take more advantage of my access to downtown Los Angeles, and I feel like this search for the “best of” restaurants in my five favorite food groups (i.e. pizza, burgers, ice cream, donuts and sandwiches) helped me scratch the surface.

As of my last check-in, I had 60 movies to watch before the end of the year. When the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, I only had one. Before you “awww”, know that this was intentional, as I realized (too late) that the last movie on the list was the final film in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I haven’t seen the first two…

…DON’T GIVE ME THAT LOOK. I realize this is another cardinal sin of cinema and I’m going to make right, okay? I’m adding this trilogy as another bonus goal for 2018.

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12) Learn to Longboard

VETOED

Similar to goal #8, I more or less quit on this goal after I became knee deep in my running. It just seemed too likely that I’d fall off my longboard and tweak an ankle (or worse) and I wasn’t willing to give up the progress I’d made. So, again, this was postponed. Hopefully I’ll find the courage to *shred* in 2k18.

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13) Learn to do a headband braid

COMPLETED (I GUESS)

Have you ever adopted a new hobby and put in a bunch of time to get better at it, only to realize that your skill level is and always will be pretty basic. Yeah, well that’s how I feel about the headband braid. After spending the year watching a bunch of different tutorial videos and knotting my hair a bunch of different ways, I more or less accepted that I’m just not good at headband braids. I get the basic concept, but my end result always looks like I let a little kid play hair salon. SO, I’m forfeiting my pursuit of the perfect braid. The way I see it, at least I can say I tried, and at least I have a handful of friends that are willing to do my hair.

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14) Reach the 100,000-mile mark on my car

COMPLETED

This was another highlight of my year. After hitting the 100,000 mile mark, my family and I loaded up into Jeffrey—wearing sparkly hats and homemade glasses no less—and took a ridiculous amount of pictures and Boomerangs to commemorate the occasion.

As if it were destined for my attendance, when I Googled “bar crawls” in October, I found 12 Bars of Charity, which divides its attendees into “teams” and gives them t-shirts to showcase the charity they choose to support. My friends and I were on the “black team” which supported the Boys & Girls club. And while we only made it to three of the twelve bars—because we spent too much time talking at each one —we still had a great time, and talked about going again next year to go to the bars we missed. (Though at this rate it will take us 4 years to see them all)

If you’re interested, 12 Bars of Charity has events all over the country. Check here to see if there’s one near you.

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16) Sing Karaoke

COMPLETED

Much to the surprise of my pre-2017 self, karaoke became somewhat of a staple for my year. My friends and I found a favorite place and made many an appearance on a Saturday night. I found that it is one of the best ways to blow off steam and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

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17) Complete Project Lightbulb

COMPLETED

Project Lightbulb is the nickname I gave my family’s dream vacation to Iceland. And while it became clear that this goal would be impossible to complete this year, I decided that as long as we made steps towards planning and booking it—a.k.a inching it to a reality—I’d call it a win. That being said, this year we did take steps in the right direction by officially opening a savings account so we can slowly save up enough money to make this thing happen! Iceland here we come!

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And that, as they say, is that! I completed 14 of my 17 goals, which is an accomplishment in itself, and what I didn’t finish, I plan on carrying over into this new year.

But the ultimate win here is the I CAN that comes alongside the setting and completing of goals, no matter what those goals may be. This list of 17 goals inspired me to get completely out of my comfort zone, which led me on new adventures I never would have experienced otherwise. I can only hope that the goals I set for 2018 can do the same.

If you are someone who is looking for some inspiration in your life, I highly encourage you to set goals. Whether big or small, artistic, athletic or otherwise, write them down, put them out into the universe, and then go for them! You might surprise yourself how much you can accomplish.

If you followed along with my blog this past year, you’ll know that I set 17 goals for 2017. A brief summary of the experience would be: it almost brought me to my death, but a more in depth summary can be found in my final goal update which I will be posting next week.

Even though this year’s goals proved to be tough however, that didn’t stop me from creating 17 moregoals for myself for 2018. (Note: I know 18 for 2018 would have rolled off the tongue better, but 17 is still my lucky number and I don’t want to be on the hook for 45 in 2045, you know?)

I’d like to think these goals are a little less intense, though somehow, I also thought the list I made last December wasn’t totally ulcer inducing, so I’m thinking maybe I just shouldn’t be trusted. Regardless, I am back with a new list of goals for a brand new year.

Let’s dive right in!

1) Do a handstand in yoga

When we were little, my sister and I both took dance lessons. I took tap, she took jazz/hip hop. As a result, I got really good with my feet and she got good at everything else. She could do the splits, she could do cartwheels, she could do handstands, she could even do these things called coffee grinders, which you’ll have to Google because I can’t demonstrate. Years later, when we both got into yoga and saw people doing headstands and handstands and a numerous other “stands” that seemed physically impossible, my sister was much more of a go-getter. In her mind, she figured she’d get it eventually. In my mind, I figured I’d eventually break in half. However, in the spirit of doing things I never thought I could do (like run 1000 miles in one year, which I did this year and you can read about here) I’ve decided to get back into yoga (which I’m not mad about) and finally go for a handstand. I’m not talking up for two seconds and then falling over. I want an arms extended, blood rushing to the brain, awkwardly long high five to the ground type of handstand.

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2) Take a kickboxing class

In a similar pursuit of strength and overall badassery, I want to take a kickboxing class this year. Because as much as I love yoga, and will love getting back into it, sometimes I just want a workout that involves hitting things, you know?

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3) Visit (at least) 20 museums in Los Angeles

So my original goal here was going to be “visit ALL the museums in Los Angeles” but that was before I found out there are 50! I’m not saying it would be impossible to visit all 50, but you figure, that’s about four museums per month and that’s only if I stuck to it, which let’s face it, I’d more than likely fall behind and wind up in November with 45 museums left to see and no time to see them. So, in the spirit of setting obtainable goals, I’m shooting for 20.

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4) Get CPR Certified

For a long time my mom, aunt and sister worked at a preschool which required them to be CPR certified. Every two years they would take a class to get educated on the newest skills/tactics associated with CPR so they would be best prepared in case an emergency situation came about. Since I never went with them, we always decided that should any combination of us be together in an emergency situation, they would do all the hard work and I’d call 911. They even taught me the script associated with the person who calls 911, because yes, that’s a thing. (MY JOB IS IMPORTANT TOO, OKAY?) But while having this “job” gave me a small sense of purpose, it also left me feeling helpless and overall useless should I not be with them in the case of a CPR emergency. So, this year I’m upping my usefulness. Watch out world, a double threat is headed your way. (In case you’re interested, you can find information on how you can get CPR certified here)

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5) Shoot (at least) one roll of film per month

Another thing you might not know about me is I love taking pictures. I actually majored in photography in college and probably spent 80% of my time in the photo lab developing film and printing pictures. It was my happy place. Since then however, I’ve shot almost zero film. With all the advances in the iPhone cameras and the implied need for instant results, I’ve been more or less consumed by all things digital. So this year I’m hoping to go back to my roots a little bit. I want to shoot at least one roll of film per month. I have a collection of old cameras I want to shoot them on and then hopefully develop and share the results. I’m also not barring the possibility of shooting with a disposable camera. I just want to get back to appreciating picture taking and not caring about getting a perfect result right away.

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6) Complete the 104 things to Photograph book

On the same token as shooting with film, I thought this book would be a really cool way to get my creative juices flowing. Similar to an outline of an assignment I might have gotten back in college, I’m hoping the freedom to photograph the listed image in my own way will give me all those inspirational feels. (If you’re interested, you can find the book here)

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7) Visit the sea glass beach in Fort Bragg, CA

I’ve always wanted to visit a sea glass beach and I’m lucky to live relatively close to one. This year I’m hoping to finally pay it a visit and hopefully take home a souvenir or two. Stay tuned. (Find other sea glass beaches here)

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8) Go to the dentist

I’m almost ashamed of this one, but I figure this is the best way to hold myself accountable. Let’s just say it’s been a while since I paid my neighborhood dentist a visit and I feel like I should probably get over there before my teeth start falling out.

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9) Watch 20 documentaries on Netflix

If there’s one thing I consistently miss the mark on, it’s keeping up with new additions to Netflix. Granted, they seemingly add about 300 things every month, but I still manage to be a solid two or three months (MINIMUM) behind even the most popular contributions. Among those I am always behind on are documentaries, which are arguably the most beneficial pieces of work available. Not only do they educate you, but they expand your mind and help you get to know yourself and your opinions a little bit better. This past year I watched a grand total of two documentaries: Lady Gaga: Five Foot Two and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond, both of which I loved. I’m hoping that this coming year I’ll find some more good ones based on all kinds of subject matter. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

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10) Perfect an omelet

You know that whole cooking initiative I started a few months back where I decided that I wanted to make myself a better cook/overall human being? Do you remember episode two where I talked about learning how to best utilize leftovers? (If you do, great! If not, you can check it out here.) Well, of all the 2nd or 3rd day uses for leftovers, omelets are probably one of my favorites. Similar to pizza, you can pretty much throw anything inside an omelet. The only problem I have is I SUCK at making omelets. I never get the flip right and it always tears apart and so my “kitchen sink omelets” are always more of a “leftover ingredient smorgasbord with a side of ripped eggs.” Let’s improve that.

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11) See (at least) one movie in theaters per month

One of my goals for 2017 was to watch every movie that won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and while I could go on and on about those movies, I could sum up the experience simply by saying that I LOVE movies. This isn’t necessarily a new discovery about myself, however, in watching all of those amazing films, I realized how many I let slip through my fingers while they were in theaters. So, in an attempt to stay more in the know, I’m making it a goal to see at least one movie in theaters per month, because other than lying in bed on a Saturday morning, there’s really no better way to see them.

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12) Read 20 books off the Time’s 100 List

As you may recall, on my 27th birthday I posted a list of 30 things I want to accomplish before I’m 30—because yes, I’m a crazy person with multiple to-do lists. On that list was “read every book on Time’s 100 List.” This goal is kind of already a stretch to begin with, but in the interest of trying, I’m breaking it up into segments. We’ll see how far I get.

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13) Pay off my credit card

Another goal on my 30 Before 30 list is to pay off my current credit card and open a new one that can start earning me airline miles. So I figure I might as well get a jump start on that goal and get this thing good and paid.

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14) See 3 WRLA’s

Ah yes, an old friend! As mentioned in this post a while back, a WRLA (pronounced wool-rha) is short for “World’s Largest Roadside Attraction” and I hope to one day see them all. Last year I made it a goal to see five on the list, and this year I’m shooting for three. I figure since I’ve already seen most of the WRLA’s closest to me, I’m going to have to do a little traveling to find the others which might be a little more difficult. (You can find a complete list WRLA’s here)

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15) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

Another old friend! This exact goal was on the list last year and I’m planning to keep it on my list every year! It just feels so good to donate your time to something that matters and I think we could all stand to lend a helping hand these days. (Find places you can volunteer here)

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16) Donate Blood

This has been on my to-do list for a very long time, but has always been put on hold due to fear. I’m not the best with needles, so the prospect of signing up for a voluntary appointment with one isn’t exactly at the top of my list. This year, however, I’m going to give it a shot. (HA) Worst case scenario: I pass out and embarrass myself in front of a few overworked nurses and then never have to do it again. Best case scenario: everything goes smoothly and I can start donating on a regular basis. (For information on how you can donate blood here)

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17) Do the 1 second per day video challenge

Being an avid watcher of YouTube, I’ve seen a handful of people make these videos where they record snippets of their day, every day, for an entire year, then compile it into a video at the end, showing one second from every day. They always make me smile and I think it will be a good challenge! Here is an example of one:

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There you have it! 17 new goals for a new year. I’m already excited and nervous!

Do you have any specific goals for the upcoming year? Let me know! We’re all in this together!

Of all the goals I set for 2017, the one that most worried me—both in questioning my sanity for setting it, and questioning my ability to complete it—was to run 1000 miles.

As someone who has hated running for the majority of her life, it was definitely what you would call a wild card. Most people I told thought I was crazy and the rest thought I was actually insane. I would have been right there with them if I hadn’t climbed Mt. Whitney a few years ago and gotten a big ole’ taste of “I CAN.” That experience inspired me to run my first 5k, two 10k’s and three half marathons, and ultimately led me to setting this goal for this year.

So, with the BIFC door wide open, I laced up my shoes and went on my first run. It was only three miles, but it was hard and I had to stop multiple times to catch my breath. Fast forward 369 days and 226 runs later, I finished my 1000th mile, winded only from all the celebratory screams I made throughout the final five miles.

Now that I’m finished, I’ve had multiple people ask me how I did it. And while a truthful summary would be: “I have no idea,” I broke it down to a few key aids. So, in case you’re among the curious or perhaps inspired to try this goal yourself, here are seven things that helped me run 1000 miles:

1) Be Crazy

I’ve kind of already said this, but it’s worth mentioning twice that to achieve a goal like this, you need to become slightly insane. You have to be willing to put yourself out of your comfort zone over and over and make sacrifices over and over. Over the course of this year, I ran on almost every surface: asphalt, grass, dirt and concrete; I ran indoors, outdoors, and sometimes a combination of both in one day; I ran early in the morning and late at night, wearing jackets in 40 degrees, wearing shorts in 90 degrees and wearing hoods and hats in the wind and rain. My schedule was dictated by running, whether it was an average workday, a weekend or even a vacation day, and I had absolutely no time to get sick. When I look back at it now, I want to laugh because I really was, by all accounts, crazy. But then again, I know if I hadn’t been, I wouldn’t have finished.

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2) Listen to Those Around You

After the first few months of running, my friends and family started to realize that I was actually serious about this goal. As a result, it became a very popular topic of conversation. When we would get together, they would always check in on my progress. Near the end of the year, when I reached the 900 mile mark, I started posting Instagram videos to track my last 100 miles and a number of people messaged me with both encouragement and graciousness, saying that my quest for crazy was inspiring them. It was an important reminder of how my actions, even though they felt small and meaningless in the grand scheme of things, could not only affect but also inspire others. This was a huge motivating factor for me. I wanted to inspire them as much as I wanted to inspire myself.

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3) Don’t Listen to Those Around You

Amongst all the encouragement, there was also a lot of implied doubt and protective paranoia. My friends and family didn’t want to see me fail. They didn’t want to find me at the end of the year burdened with discouragement. Not to mention, this year happened to be a very busy one for me, so there were many points when I found myself far behind the pace I needed to finish on time. At one point in August, I was almost 60 miles behind, which equates to almost 22 days off pace. “Are you—do you think you’ll be able to finish?” people would say. And while I knew it was rooted in genuine worry, there were parts of me that absorbed the negative connotations—They don’t think you can do it.You’re way too far behind. You should just quit—so I had to learn to block that out. Because in the end I was the one who knew if I could do it. I was the one who had to decide if I could make up the ground I had lost. I was the one who knew I wouldn’t and couldn’t quit.

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4) Be Consistently Patient

Before I started this goal, I had this vision that once I made it through the first month I’d be in incredible shape and I’d never get winded or have leg cramps or feel like I was going to pass out—which is how I’ve felt for most of my running career. To my unfortunate surprise however, even in these last few months I still had days when I’d leave my house to run a route I’d run countless times before, only to find myself so short of breath I thought I might pass out. “HOW CAN THIS BE HAPPENING?!” I would think as I slowed myself to a walk. On these days I’d get so down on myself, and I’d wonder why I ever thought I could do something like this. But then I’d wake up the next day and feel so good on my run that I’d go two or three miles more than I intended. Thus, I had to learn that running will always be a learning curve, and I can’t let a few bad days get me down.

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5) Expect Injuries and Work Through Them

I have never been someone you would consider “injury prone.” I’d like to say it’s because I’m lucky/indestructible, but the truth is, I’ve never really pushed my body to its limits before. And while I have a high tolerance for pain, I just wasn’t a “work through the pain” type of person. For this goal however, “if it hurts, stop” wasn’t really an option. I strained the Iliotibial Band in my left leg, I got shin splints in my left leg, I had two toes on my right foot split open, and I worked through sore muscles in seemingly every part of my body. And while every single one of these SUCKED, none of them took me out of the game. I iced when I needed to, I took days off when I needed to, and most importantly, I got right back out there.

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6) Feed Your Senses

Before the start of the year, I spent a lot of time formulating the perfect running playlist. I scrolled through my entire iTunes library and I did a good amount of Googling to find songs that would (ideally) make me forget how hard running is. A few months into the goal however, I was already sick of this playlist. And not only that, I was sick of the routes I was running. I was getting bored of the songs and the scenery, which made it exponentially harder to motivate myself to run. So, I spiced up my routes. I took turns I never made before, and ran familiar routes backwards. As for ear food, I started alternating in podcasts. It was a nice break from hearing the same songs over and over, and I was surprised how easy it was to get sucked into other people’s conversations. If you’re looking for suggestions, some of my favorite podcasts were: Serial, Happy Sad Confused and Modern Love. Also, during the summer, I spent an entire month on the treadmill, binge watching Prison Break, so if you’re an indoor runner looking for some eye candy, Wentworth Miller is there for you. As far as songs go, I made this playlist, aptly titled, “These Songs Helped Me Run 1000 Miles” which you are welcome to listen to whether you’re running 1000 miles, 1 mile, or are just needing some pumped up tunes to drive to.

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7) Keep Track

As some of you may know already, I’m an avid spreadsheet maker. Thus, when the opportunity arose to track my running progress, I went all out. Here is a screen shot of my year of running, the yellow being days I went on a run, the blue being days I went on two runs—one outside in the early morning and one on the treadmill in the afternoon to try and work around the triple digit degree days in the summer.

This spreadsheet proved to be both motivated and discouraging as it showed me both my progress and how far behind I was. In the end however, it gave me one less stress, as I never had to worry about losing track of where I was on this quest.

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There are probably a bunch of other things that helped me, both big and small, some I might not even realize. For example, to everyone that ever asked me, “How’s your running going,” you are one of those things! As of now, I’m very proud of myself, and even more, I’m excited to see what the future holds. Inspiration and adrenaline are as addicting as they come, and now that I’ve unlocked another level of “I can” in myself, I’m already craving what’s next.

A mantra I gave myself this year was, “if it’s still only a daydream, the answer is no, but if you’re out there trying and failing, the answer is not yet.” I’ve wanted to be a runner for a long time, but until this year, was never able to break the barriers that surrounded that goal. Now I’m ready to see what else I’m capable of, and turn another “no” into a “not yet.”

With the New Year RAPIDLY approaching I have been going through my usual routine—which mostly consists of muted panicking. January 1st comes with a lot of nerves and pressure, as well as excitement and freedom. And while it’s important and fun to embrace the New Year after the clock strikes midnight, there are also a few things things you can do beforehand that can make that tick tock more relaxing than taxing.

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1) Unsubscribe

If you spend a lot of time online, whether it be for work or leisure, or if you’ve done a lot of your Christmas shopping from the comfort of an internet window, chances are you’ve found yourself subscribed to a lot of newsletters/company coupon strands that you have no interest in. And while it’s easy to just delete these and move on with your day, there is real benefit in taking a few extra seconds and unsubscribing. Not only will it declutter your email, but it will also remove the temptation that comes with all those FLASH SALE emails. Trust me on this one, just scroll to the bottom of the email, click unsubscribe and regain some of your freedom.

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2) Clean!

I am very much like my mom in that few things leave me quite as satisfied as a clean house. And with the holidays in full swing I have some upcoming days off, so I’ll most likely spend a good chunk of those days doing all the cleaning I’ve been procrastinating on. But what if I did it early? What if I put aside some extra time on these days leading up to the off days, so that when the off days arrive I can spend far more time sitting on the couch in my sweatpants? Call me crazy but more time in sweatpants = a more satisfying holiday = a better attitude upon returning to work after the holidays = a better employee = endless raises, etc. etc. I’m just spitballing here.

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3) Trash/Donate

This can more or less go alongside cleaning, as it’s possible it might happen organically if you get into one of those intense cleaning modes. But don’t just clean everything, go through it. Go through your closet and your bookshelves and your desk. Clean out your refrigerator and your garage and your car. Then trash the broken and old and donate what’s ready to be loved by someone else.

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4) Change Your Alarm

I admit it. I am a huge “hit snooze-er” when it comes to my alarm in the mornings. Over the last few months, I don’t think there’s been a single day that I didn’t do it at least once. That being said however, it has been brought to my attention that you actually wake up more tired when you hit snooze. Not to mention you (or maybe just I) usually end up hitting snooze a few more times than you (I) should, so you (I) end up rushing around the house trying to get to work on time. SO, in the interest of being honest with myself (i.e. accepting the fact that I’ll probably never kick the habit of hitting snooze) but still hoping to make an improvement, I am going to set a second, different, alarm that gives a “HEY KIM, YOU CAN’T CLICK SNOOZE ANYMORE” type of signal. That way I can at least keep track of where I am in snooze time, and will have to try a little harder to oversleep.

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5) Stock Up

You know how lines at department stores and grocery stores tend to grow at the speed of Pinnocchio’s nose around the holidays? You know how spending time in those lines is arguably one of the worst ways to spend your holidays? Right, so let’s do our best to avoid that. Let’s stock up on the necessities: toilet paper, laundry soap, Oreos, etc. This will save us from the early morning/late night “can you go to the store real quick, pleeeeease” arguments and include us in more of the “how many marshmallows should we put in our hot chocolate?” debates.

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6) Set Goals

More than anything, a new year gives us a fresh start. We get a new calendar year, with holidays waiting to be celebrated and seasons to waiting to take shape. It’s hard not to feel inspired to make some changes. So I encourage you, go with that inspiration! Make a list! Be daring, be creative and be specific. It’s so easy to make vague resolutions that are ultimately unsatisfying because they have no framework. Use numbers, details, and blueprints. Give your self time limits and then go for it!

(Also, if you’re interested, you can check out this post for some tips on setting goals, and this post to see the 17 goals I set for myself this year)

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I wish you a wonderful end to your 2017 and an inspirational start to your 2018!

You know that old “glass half full/half empty” argument that determines whether you’re an optimist or a pessimist? Well I was recently thinking about 2017, and the fact that it’s now ¾ of the way over, and I was thinking that we can look at it two ways:

1) We let it fill us: We started with an empty glass and allowed all the lessons we learned and experiences we had to slowly fill our cup.

2) We let it drain us: We started with a full glass and then watched as the stress and anxieties of the year slowly emptied our cup, leaving us with almost nothing left.

But while it’s easy to identify which is optimistic vs. pessimistic on paper, it’s harder to admit, or even more, to correct how we’ve been thinking about our year. For me personally, I set a lofty list of goals this year, and there have been many times when I’ve sat down on my couch exhausted, loathing every single one of them. And while I think it’s perfectly normal and necessary to have those moments once in a while, it would be a shame to let them overshadow all the good ones. That being said, let us focus on the good moments. The badass moments that continue to bring us closer to the goals we’ve set for ourselves. I wish you luck on yours, here’s how I’m doing on mine:

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1) See Star Wars

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 3/8 (37.50%)

Current Progress: 3/8 (37.50%)

In a way I feel like my lack of progress here is a strategy of sorts. With the new Star Wars movie coming out in 2 months, I have the opportunity to walk into the theater having just seen the last few movies. So this excuses me from waiting so long to watch the rest of them, right? RIGHT?

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2) See 5 WLRA’s

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 3/5 (60%)

Current Progress: 4/5 (80%)

At the end of August my family drove up north to drop my brother off at college. And since my eyes are alwaaays open for WRLAs, I quickly figured out that the World’s Largest Monk was only 20 minutes away from his school. Thankfully, my family understands and supports my crazy mind, so after a somewhat emotional weekend, we pulled off the freeway to check this one off the list.

I officially have all the pieces cut and they are patiently waiting to be sewed together. In other words, I’ve done everything I can do before all that’s left for me to do is use my sewing machine…

I’m still slightly terrified, and I’m minorly convinced this is where I’ll ruin the rug, but hey, the goal specifically states to try, right? It doesn’t say make an award winning rug sure to be included in the National History Museum upon your death. So I’m going to give it my best shot. Stay tuned.

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4) Run 1,000 miles

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 474.01 miles (47.42%)

Current Progress: 743.23 miles (74.32%)

GUYS. I’M KIND OF TIRED OF RUNNING. Do I love the way it makes me feel? Yes. Am I continually proud of myself for pursuing this goal? Yes. But am I ready for it to be over? YES. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve spent calculating miles and scheduling routes. And while it’s obviously paid off, as I’m only about 250 miles away from the Promised Land, I’M READY TO BE IN THE FREAKING PROMISED LAND, OKAY? Wish me and my legs luck as we run these last few hundred miles.

While I’m so glad I was able to complete the (minimum) requirement for this goal, I also find it funny that I did so in 5 months. I totally slacked the first half of the year, and I can’t help but think if I had gotten on the ball sooner, I’d have double the volunteer shifts under my belt. This past weekend, as my mom and I were volunteering at Children’s Hunger Fund, I realized how much of a privilege it is to volunteer and I really want to make a better effort to do it as often as I can.

With football officially kicked off, hockey season fully underway, and basketball season only a few weeks out, I have no excuse not to get my butt to a game! If you see a brunette holding a hot dog with way too much ketchup and mustard, animatedly screaming at a group of grown men chasing a ball/puck, there’s probably a 5% chance it’s not me.

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8) Try every class at the gym

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

I know, I know. I’ve given excuse after excuse after excuse on this one, but this is the last one, I promise! For the past few months I’ve been consistently behind on my running goal, making that my #1 priority. As a result, I haven’t had time/energy/will to make it to the gym and have my ass further kicked by physical activity. However, I’m finally gaining some ground and will most likely start showing my (probably panicked) face at the gym again this month.

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 100%!

I’m not sure how many 26 year olds would ask to spend their 27th birthday throwing darts at water balloons full of paint, but I’m glad I’m one of them, and I highly recommend you look into it as well, no matter what number awaits you at your next birthday. You can read all about how we did it here.

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 4/5 (80%)

I’d like to officially issue a THANK YOU to my roommates for helping me out with this goal because without them, I have no doubts I’d still be sitting on a goose egg. In the last few months, we’ve tried LA’s best pizza (Pizzeria Mozza), sandwich (Mendocino Farms), ice cream (Salt & Straw) and burger, the quest for the burger probably being the most fun. We went to the first inaugural Battle of the Burgers, which was an event that brought 11 of LA’s best burger vendors to a park downtown and charged $20 for three beers, a burger from each place, and a yellow ticket to vote on your favorite, thus making it the BEST DAY EVER. My roommates voted for Grill ‘Em All, I voted for Everson Royce Bar, and the winner—who we had all counted as our 2nd place choice—was Beacon Echo Park. If you’re in the LA area, check them out!

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11) Watch every film that has ever won Best Picture

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 11/89 (12.36%)

Current Progress: 28 (31.46%)

This is a slowly but surely, turtle and hare type situation. The turtle being me and the hare being time. I fully realize that my needing to watch 60 movies in 3 months, all of which are riddled with holidays, seems like kind of a shot in the dark, but I have a feeling my competitive spirit will find a way to get this thing done. In the meantime, I’m receiving a mean movie education (or movie-cation for all my Pitch Perfect peeps), and have been talking everyone’s ear off in the process. My top 5 favorite movies that I’ve watched so far (not including the handful I’d seen prior to this year) are: Gentleman’s Agreement, Annie Hall, Rain Man, Driving Miss Daisy, and Slumdog Millionaire.

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12) Learn to Longboard

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

The only excuse I have for not making progress on this one is I’m a little scared I’ll more or less break my body. (You know, casual fears.) However, just as my DIY rug doesn’t have to be worthy of museum display, my skateboarding skills don’t have to resemble those you might find on Tony Hawk Pro-Skater. SO, I’m going to suck it up and do it. Stay tuned.

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13) Learn to do a headband braid

1st & 2nd Quarter Progress: 20%

Current Progress: 40%

To be honest, I’m not even sure how I’m gaging my progress on this one. At the end of the year, it’s either a can or can’t do it type of situation. Sure, I know more about it than when I started, but is that exactly 40% more? Who knows? What I do know is I could use a few alternative hairstyles, especially with all of the holiday family pictures headed my way, so hopefully I’ll find that missing 60% in the next few months.

Yeahhhhhhh, about this one. I kind of keep forgetting about it. Good news is, the upcoming months should feature a handful of themed bar crawls I can check out. Look for me in a tacky sweater tavern or a pumpkin spiced lounge or a ghoul-ful pub. Or, if none of those exist, look for me opening a tacky sweater tavern, a pumpkin spiced lounge or a ghoul-ful pub.

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16) Sing Karaoke

COMPLETED

Much to the surprise of my pre-2017 self, I’ve actually done karaoke 4 separate times now, all of which have been about 100 times more fun than I ever thought karaoke could be. That being said, while I’d never pressure anyone into doing something they didn’t want to do, I highly recommend you give karaoke a shot. There are few things more freeing than belting out a Backstreet Boys song, knowing you’re hitting exactly zero notes, and yet not caring one bit.

After it became clear that this goal would be impossible to complete this year, I decided that as long as we made steps towards planning and booking it for next year, I’d call it a win. That being said, we finally made our first step in that direction, as we opened a savings account where we can slowly save up enough money to make this thing happen! Iceland here we come!

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As a whole, I’m just under 58% finished, which again, I’m deciding to take on a half-full mindset about. There’s no use in letting what I haven’t done take the focus away from what I have. I will continue to work my butt off and hopefully come the end of December, I’ll be sitting behind this computer writing up the 4th and final update, feeling filled up with pride for the crazy, hard, and amazing year that was 2017. See you then!

The fact that we are already one week into July has me feeling a little bit like this:

This always seems to happen. One minute you’re ringing in the New Year, the next you’re…ringing in the New Year. Everything—except lines at the DMV, clocks in an office building, and lethargic pedestrians—moves so fast! This year especially seems to be moving quick because I have so many goals I’m trying to keep track of.

Let me tell ya, if you ever want to live a year in fast forward, set a list of specific goals for yourself and watch the time fly by. Sure, it’s a little bit frightening, but it’s also exciting, because alongside all that time travel is a growing list of accomplishments.

Full disclosure: since my last goal update post I did make a spreadsheet to better aid me in my quest of tracking my progress. In other words, over the last three months I’ve leveled up in nerd. #noshame

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1) See Star Wars

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 37.50%

That’s right, I’m down to the .5%, people! You thought I was kidding about the whole spreadsheet thing, didn’t you? You should know me better than that by now. Anyways, yes, I have watched the first three Star Wars movies—and by first three I mean Episodes 4, 5 & 6, because I was told to watch them in order of release date, not episode number—and you can read all about that experience here, here, and here. Did I like them, you ask? Well, let’s just say there’s a C3P0 keychain in my Amazon cart and a Death Star waffle maker on my wish list.

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2) See 5 WLRA’s

1st Quarter Progress: 3/5 (60%)

Current Progress: 3/5 (60%)

I was pleasantly surprised by how well I attacked this quest at the beginning of the year. My sister and I actually worked two WRLA’s into our previously planned road trip earlier this year which ended up being 100% worth it. As of now, I have a few oversized sites in mind to top off this year and am currently in the process of making that happen.

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3) Try this jean rug DIY

1st Quarter Progress: 25%

Current Progress: 25%

This has been kind of a daunting task all its own because, seeing as it’s a project that involves sewing, I have to, you know, learn to sew. And while sewing has been on my to-do list for quite some time—my family was even so generous as to buy me a sewing machine for my birthday last year—I’m still rather terrified I’ll end up sewing my lip to something. HOWEVER, this shall not deter me.

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4) Run 1,000 miles

1st Quarter Progress: 233.84 miles (23%)

Current Progress: 474.1 miles (47.42%)

After taking an entire week off during my vacation in March, I arrived home to find myself terrifyingly far behind schedule. To make matters worse, in that short amount of time, I somehow managed to fall slightly out of shape, so my first run back was frustratingly hard. As a result, I spent many a late night thinking about quitting. A part of me wondered if maybe I should just call it a wash and try again another year. But the other part of me—the competitive, can’t stop, won’t stop part of me—said “hell no.” So, after gaining very little ground in April, I welcomed May with open and determined arms. I was going to catch up and I was going to start immediately. That month, I ran 22 out 31 days, totaling just under 100 miles. It was by far the hardest month so far, but at the same time, the most beneficial. I’m more motivated than ever to accomplish this crazy goal I’ve set and have found myself more courageous and daring in my running than ever before. Plus, with the 500-mile mark right around the corner, I can already taste that Heisman.

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5) Complete The Ultimate Fit Bit Week

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

Yeah, nope. Still haven’t gotten around to this one.

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6) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 40%

With the arrival of summer, and the beginning of a new outreach at my church, I was able to find a couple great opportunities to volunteer over the past couple months and already have a few more penciled in for the next couple months, which makes my heart happy. I always forget how rewarding volunteering is until I get back in the groove of it, then I want to volunteer everywhere all at once! In case you’re interested, the organizations I’ve worked with so far are Children’s Hunger Fund and Food Forward. I believe Food Forward only has locations in California, but Children’s Hunger Fund has a few branches across the country, so if you can find one near you, I highly recommend looking up opportunities to volunteer. Also, if you have any places you love to volunteer, I’d love to hear about them!

As I stated in the first progress post, I haven’t really had the opportunity to make progress on this one because most of the sports are out of season. However, I do have a soccer game on the calendar for July and football, hockey, and basketball will all be back in the fall.

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8) Try every class at the gym

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

Good news! My gym has finally resumed its workout classes. Thus, I can finally start making some progress on this goal a.k.a probably writing posts about how hard/painful the workout classes are. Stay tuned for whiny rants about how my fingers feel like they’re made of glass and how my legs have forgotten how to be legs.

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

Yeah, so, another goal full of goose eggs for me here. However, while I’ve made no progress on the actual painting, I have garnered some interest from friends who want to participate. So, if you happen to see a group of people throwing darts at easels, don’t worry, it’s just me and my friends achieving.

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

Honestly, I have no explanation for why I’ve made no progress on this one. I mean, it’s a goal that involves FOOD. *shakes head in shame*

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11) Watch every film that has ever won Best Picture

1st Quarter Progress: 6/89 (6%)

Current Progress: 11/89 (12.36%)

Fun fact: Netflix DVD (who is not sponsoring me, but totally should) has pretty much every movie ever, so to make progress on this goal, I recently upgraded my subscription and it’s been great. My mailbox has been pleasantly surprised to receive little red envelopes containing musicals and romantic drama-dies from the 40s and I look forward to working my way up to present day Oscar winners.

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12) Learn to Longboard

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

The to-do list on this one remains firm:

1) Buy a helmet, elbow pads, and knee pads

2) Wear aforementioned safety apparel with pride

3) Lose all inhibitions.

When I’ve managed to do all three, I’ll have some progress (and probably bruises) to update you on.

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13) Learn to do a headband braid

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 40%

I’ve watched this tutorial on YouTube a few times and have been working to improve my skills gradually. I expect it will still take me a solid while to get it, but at least I understand the concept now. I used to think it was 100% impossible unless you had three arms.

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14) Reach the 100,000-mile mark on my car

1st Quarter Progress: 99,720 miles (99%)

Current Progress: 100%

THAT’S RIGHT! For those of you keeping track at home, you can officially check off #14. I wrote a whole post about my car, Jeffrey’s, big day which you can read here.

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15) Do a bar/pub crawl

1st Quarter Progress: 0%

Current Progress: 0%

There appears to be an inkling of a plan for this one to happen around my birthday. Stay tuned.

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16) Sing Karaoke

Current Progress: Complete!

Much to the surprise of my pre-2017 self, I’ve actually done karaoke 3 separate times now, all of which have been about 100 times more fun than I ever thought karaoke could be. That being said, while I’d never pressure anyone into doing something they don’t want to do, I highly recommend you give karaoke a shot. There are few things more freeing than belting out a Backstreet Boys song, knowing you’re hitting exactly zero notes, and yet not caring one bit.

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17) Complete Project Lightbulb

Current Progress: Same as Quarter One.

Due to scheduling/financial conflicts, it appears as though the trip that coincides with this project will not be able to take place until next year, thus preventing the goal in its original form from being accomplished. However, I’m planning on shifting it a bit, so as not to punish myself over unforeseen circumstances. I figure, if we get the whole trip planned to the tee, with everything set and ready to book, if not booked for 2018, I’d call that a success in its own right.

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Adding all of that together, it comes out to about 29% complete. Which is kind of disappointing to look at, especially since it’s only 10% more than the first quarter. HOWEVER, I’ve done more planning and organizing in this second quarter than I did in the first, which has put me on a much better looking path for the second half of this year. So stay tuned folks! These next few months are going to be crazy. See you in September!

With the end of March also marking the end of the first quarter of the year, and with me having set a hefty list of goals for myself at the beginning of the year, I thought it was a good time to check-in on how I’m doing.

I know, disappointing, but it should be noted that after setting this goal, the series has managed to worked its way into far more conversations than usual, which has ultimately caused the intent behind setting it in the first place (to understand inside jokes/to unlock a new level of nerd inside myself/to fit in) to backfire. “What do you mean you haven’t seen them?!?” “I’M WORKING ON IT!”

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2) See 5 WLRA’s

Progress: 3/5 (60%)

If you’ve never taken the time to pull off the freeway to take an incredibly nerdy picture with a miscellaneous object deemed the “largest in the world” in its category, believe me when I tell you: you are missing out! So far this year I’ve seen the World’s Largest Paper Cup, Thermometer & Fishing Fly, and they’ve all been sufficiently worth the side trip.

Here’s a list of all the ones you can find in the US. Find one near you and nerd your heart out!

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3) Try the jean rug DIY

Progress: 25%

I can’t really take credit for the progress that has been made thus far as it’s mostly just the collection of materials, and all of that has been accomplished through the generous donations of my sister. However, as of now I have about 8 pairs of old jeans in a pile on my desk, anxiously waiting to be up-cycled into the most badass rug ever. Be patient jeans! Your potential awaits!

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4) Run 1,000 miles

Progress: 233.84 (23%)

As I stated in this blog post, I’ve most recently started referring to this goal as “winning the Heisman”, due to the qualities it shares with the nearly unattainable sports honor. That being said, this goal has proven to be a healthy combination of challenging, inspiring, impossible and possible, and I think it will remain a melting pot of the four throughout the year.

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5) Complete The Ultimate Fit Bit Week

Progress: None

If I’m being honest, this one probably scares me the most. There’s just so much that has to go right for it to…well…go right. I really just have to go for this one. I just have to wake up one Sunday (because the FitBit week starts on Sundays) and say, “this is the week!” I better get on it soon too, while I still have plenty of weeks left for do-overs.

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6) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

Progress: None

Well, technically none, though I am signed up to volunteer in the next month, and plan on signing up for another event the month after that. So I have some positive progress percentages coming my way, they’re just buffering at the moment.

I have a feeling most of the progress with this particular goal will take place closer to the end of the year, because over half of the sports on the list have seasons that come to a close/move to postseason (which I can’t really afford) in the first few months. However, as of last week, I can officially check baseball off the list.

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8) Try every class at the gym

Progress: None

I could probably go ahead and take the heat for this one and say that I’ve been spent most of my time running/being too lazy to go to the gym, but since there’s a small out, I’m going to take it. My gym recently sustained major water damage and all classes have been cancelled for the last month and a half.

What’s that, you say? I could go to another branch of the gym?

Well, umm, hey let’s move on, yeah?

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

Progress: None

This one’s on you, winter. Spring & Summer: Me and my paints are coming for you!

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

Progress: None-ish

This one of kind of the same as #6, I’ve got all the workings for progress, I just haven’t made any yet.

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11) Watch every film that has ever won Best Picture

Progress: 6/89 (6%)

YIKES! Who knew I’d have so much trouble making time to watch movies. On the one hand it’s probably for the best, because I know once I really dive into this one I might not emerge from the house for a solid few weeks and I need to go to work in order to make rent. But on the other hand, I think this goal has the potential to sneak up on me if I’m not careful. I need to write myself a prescription for couch time, pronto!

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12) Learn to Longboard

Progress: None

Again, I hand most of the blame to winter, though I also need to buy a helmet…and elbow pads…and a pair of (figurative) balls. I’ll add them to the shopping list and keep you posted.

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13) Learn to do a headband braid

Progress: None

I need to carve out time during the weekend to do this because there’s just no way I’m going to be able motivate myself (or convince my hands to perform fine motor skills) in the morning before work. Maybe I’ll start practicing while I’m watching all those movies I’m behind on. Braid and binge, Kim, braid and binge.

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14) Reach the 100,000-mile mark on my car

Progress: 99,720 (99%)

After starting the year a 96,700 miles, my odometer currently reads 99,720! I’m almost there! I’m kind of freaking out about it! Is this what it feels like to watch your kids grow up before your eyes? Not even close? Okay, well…I’m still excited!

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15) Do a bar/pub crawl

Progress: None

One does not simply crawl without a plan. One must find a crawl with an excellent path and perhaps an amusing theme. One has not found a crawl matching these qualifications. Thus, one has made no progress.

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16) Sing Karaoke

Progress: Complete!

That’s right folks, I officially made my karaoke debut this year at my sister’s birthday party, here are the stats from that night:

Drinks consumed: not enough

Songs sung: 2

Number of lives changed for the better by the sound of my angelic voice: infinite

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17) Complete Project Lightbulb

Progress: None-ish

Due to scheduling/financial conflicts, it appears as though the trip that coincides with this project will not be able to take place until next year, thus preventing the goal in its original form from being accomplished. However, I’m planning on shifting it a bit, so as not to punish myself over unforeseen circumstances. I figure, if we get the whole trip planned to the tee, with everything set and ready to book, if not booked for 2018, I’d call that a success in its own right.

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When I calculated it out (with an embarrassing amount of nerdy math that I’m not even sure is correct), it looks like my current overall progress is 19%, which seems pretty frownable. Though, if we’re looking at the year in quarters, I’m only 6% off of where I should be, so I’ll take that as a small win!

Here’s hoping I’ll have a more exciting update for you come the end of June. And for those of you still working on your 2017 goals, I wish you all the best. Never stop starting!

For as long as I can remember, my favorite number has been 17. I don’t know why or when it started, it’s just always been that way. Over the years however, it proved again and again be a perfect fit. For example: there are 17 letters in my full name.

As you can imagine, the prospect of becoming 17 was a big deal to me. For years leading up to the event I constantly told everyone that it was destined to be the “best. year. ever.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t. I won’t go into the details, but let’s just say it was a very hard year. One I would never wish to repeat and one I don’t often talk about.

BUT, seeing as the New Year is almost upon us and it just so happens to be 2017, I’m hoping it will be redemption for the disaster that was 2007. And to aid the cause, I’m making a point to set fun, challenging and achievable goals for myself. How many goals you might ask?

You didn’t really have to ask, did you?

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1) See Star Wars

I’m putting this first so it is read for what it is: a confession. I admit it, I HAVEN’T SEE STAR WARS! None of them. Zero. Zilch. All I know is that Luke meets his dad and Hayden Christensen has a ponytail. So, this year I’m finally going to do it. I’m going to watch them all, straight up through Rogue One, and then I will finally feel like an accepted member of society (and hopefully receive less dirty looks.)

If you’ll recall this post from September, I recently became obsessed with the World’s Largest Roadside Attractions, and set a goal for myself to see every single one in the USA. For this year, I’m shooting for five. I don’t know which ones they’ll be or if I’ll be able to see more than that, but I’m setting five as my minimum. One for each finger.

I’m big into crafts (a huge understatement) and I tend to have the “I could just make that” mentality whenever I think something is too expensive. Does this often go wrong? Yes. But that didn’t stop me from bookmarking this DIY rug whilst I was searching around for a cheap one on Amazon.

Note: the key word in this one is try. I’m not going to win any awards, but damn if I’m not going to go as Project Runway as possible on this bad boy.

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4) Run 1,000 miles

WOAH. I know, it sounds like a lot. But if I was ever going to set a goal like this, 2017 is the year to do it. I have it in my plans to run a couple half marathons, as well as a 2 day, 12 person relay race this year, and in order to survive any and all of these, I’m going to need to train. I figure adding this extra goal will only make training that more enticing.

Fun fact: I already started this one last week. You can call this cheating if you want, actually no, no you can’t. See Rule 5 for why.

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5) Complete The Ultimate Fit Bit Week

To the best of my knowledge, this isn’t actually a thing. If it is, correct me, but if it isn’t, I will now explain the parameters of The Ultimate Fit Bit Week a.k.a TUFBW (obviously pronounced, “tuff-boo”). Essentially, a TUFBW is reaching nearly every goal Fit Bit sets for you in a day, for an entire 7 days. (I don’t count getting a star in sleep because for the most part that’s out of your control.)

I’m talking all these guys are green every day:

The steps per hour rainbow is filled every day:

And by the end of the week this man is running inside a blue pentagon of victory:

I’ve never even come close to doing this, and aside from running 1000 miles, this will probably be the hardest goal I’ve set. What can I say? TUFBW’s are tough, Boo.

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6) Volunteer (at least) 5 times

I absolutely love volunteering but am ashamed to say I did so exactly zero times in 2016! Yikes! This must change immediately. Let’s stick with 5 again as a minimum. One for each finger on the other hand.

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7) Go to a sporting event of every kind

Well, probably not every kind. That would prove to be impossible. I’m thinking more of the top five: Baseball, Football, Hockey, Basketball & Soccer. One for each toe.

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8) Try every class at the gym

I don’t do nearly enough to take advantage of my gym membership, which constantly leaves me rolling my eyes when the monthly payment charges my card. So, this year I aim to participate in such grand fashion that I can call the guy at the desk Bob, even though that’s not his name, but it will be an inside joke between us because we see each other so often.

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9) Do The Princess Diaries painting

Need I say more? I think we can collectively agree we’ve all wanted to do this for 15 years now and it’s about time we took the plunge. Also, I may or may not wear a tiara while doing it.

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10) Find and try the “Best of” restaurants in LA

It is so often that I see Los Angeles in the “best of” talks when it comes to eateries. And while I’m not one to try the “experimental” restaurants, I can’t help but have an appetite for something labeled “the best.” That being said, I’m going to stick to the five most important food groups: Pizza, Burgers, Ice Cream, Donuts, and Sandwiches. I’m going to scour the Internet and find what LA (or surrounding area) restaurant is considered “the best” in each of these categories and pay them a visit.

(Any and all suggestions are welcome)

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11) Watch every film that has ever won Best Picture

A few years ago I made a list of every film that has ever been nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, in the hopes that one day I’d eventually have a proper movie education or, what Jesse from Pitch Perfect would define as a proper “movie-cation.” Mind you, as of 2016, that list is 528 films deep, so that goal is no joke. For this year, I’m just aiming to see those that won. So far, of the 88 (soon to be 89), I’ve already seen 7! So uhh…yeah, almost there.

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12) Learn to Longboard

This year on Christmas morning, after my family had finished opening all of our presents, my dad pulled an A Christmas Story and said, “I think there’s one more gift for you, Kim, over in the corner there.” “Is it a rifle?” I asked, referencing the movie. “No, but I think it’s something on your bucket list.” I furrowed my brow in confusion, tiptoed over to the corner of the room, lifted the beach towel as instructed, and then screamed in excitement. Because yes, learning to skateboard has always been on my bucket list, and now suddenly there was a longboard in my house with my name (figuratively) on it. Cue goal 12*.

*Let it be noted that I will unabashedly wear a helmet and elbow pads throughout the learning process, and will undoubtedly bruise my entire body. However, it will all be worth it. Look for me on the beach boardwalk, hair blowing in the wind, or at the grocery store on a milk run, no bag required.

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13) Learn how to do a headband braid

I suck at doing my hair. My friend and old roommate Kristine, however, is AMAZING at hair. And when we lived together I’d often turn to her to braid my hair when it was lashing out at me. My favorite was the headband braid. It got my hair out of my face and overall made me look pretty put together (I think). This year I’ll learn to do it on my own.

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14) Reach the 100,000-mile mark on my car

I would like to think this is an inevitable achievement this year because I’m already at 96,950, but I’m sticking it on here because it just wouldn’t be my lucky year if me and Jeffrey (my car) couldn’t celebrate 100,000 miles together.

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15) Do a bar/pub crawl

I’ve never actually done one and I just think that walking, talking, and drinking beer with good people sounds like a grand old time.

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16) Sing Karaoke

This could probably go hand in hand with the last one, especially since I’d have a little extra courage to do so. Now all I have to do is figure out what my go-to song will be.

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17) Complete Project Lightbulb

For my dad’s birthday in November, my family and I typed up a mock itinerary of a trip we hope to take to Iceland—the codename for which was “Project Lightbulb”. My dad has always wanted to see the Northern Lights, so we finally took those first steps towards making it happen. And since life often tries to get in the way of plans like these, I’m making it a priority to take this trip, or at least have it completely planned and booked, this year!

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So yeah, 2017 is going to be no joke. I can’t wait!

If you’re interested in following along, I’m going to post my progress here as well as on my Instagram. With any luck, a year from now I’ll be writing about what a badass I was during 2017. I’ll have showered my list with checkmarks and will be typing with that proud, sassy tone I usually get when I do my laundry before running out of underwear. Here’s hoping!

Can you believe we’re already in the last week of December?! Every year it seems like the day after Thanksgiving we start powering forward towards Christmas, putting every drop of our energy into all that it entails, and then suddenly it’s over and we’re sitting on December 26th like, “what do you mean the year is over in 5 days?”

To make matters more stressful, with the end of one year comes the beginning of a new year, and all the pressure associated with that. How can I make the coming year better than the last? What can I change? What can I cut out? What dance move do I need to learn?

It’s a lot to think about.

So, for this second to last installment of List-cember, I give you the 5 steps to setting goals for the New Year.

1) Set Goals, Not Resolutions

At the beginning of this year, I wrote this post after being inspired by another blogger to no longer make New Years Resolutions. In her post, she explained why it is important to instead set goals, as they are specific and concrete (i.e. read 30 books) while resolutions are much more vague (i.e. read more). The article really struck a chord in me and immediately after reading it, I wrote a list of goals for the year. As it turned out, the blogger was right. Having my goals spelled out in front of me made it easier to achieve them. I had numbers and dates involved and that gave me much-needed deadlines. It also prevented me from finding loopholes. With “read more” I could have rationalized any number as the “more”, while “read 30 books” (which by the way was actually on my list) is pretty bulletproof. (Ps- I did end up reading 30 books)

2) Pick absolutely anything

Your goals are just that, your goals. Don’t let anyone else tell you what they should be and don’t be ashamed of anything you want to throw on that list.

3) Don’t be so serious

Piggy backing off of #2, goals don’t always have to be these deep, philosophical creatures. When I was trying to get ideas for my list, I started sifting around for inspiration and kept finding these vague, heavy statements like “love more” or “attract more positivity”. And while those are great, and in some cases very necessary for someone looking for a fresh start, I didn’t feel like I really connected to any of them. At first this worried me. Does this mean my list is stupid? No! It just means the list is mine.

4) Find a balance between challenging and achievable

To give you a sports metaphor: think of Michael Phelps, a.k.a the greatest Olympian of all time. He set incredible goals for himself, many of which he appeared to achieve. This is because he found that balance. He was always pushing himself to do more, while still respecting what was possible. Imagine if his goal would have merely been to “make the swim team” or if it was to “win gold in every single swimming event at the Olympics.” He would have never become the champion he is today. This is why that balance is so important, it gets you in tune with what you are capable of, and even more, what you can be capable of if you put in the work.

5) Go for it

Once you set your goals, get after them! Don’t feel like you have to wait for anyone’s permission. Don’t even make yourself wait for January 1st! Just go for it. Achieve achieve achieve and then set more goals and start all over.